ABINGTON – Diane Brady was running the Boston Marathon again for her 11-year-old son, Brendan, who has cerebral palsy, when the bombs exploded.

Brady was stuck at Mile 18. Most of her family was at Copley Square and the Lenox Hotel, separated from her by 8 miles and an impenetrable wall of chaos and cell phone disruption.

When the first bomb detonated, Brendan was sitting at the finish line with his caregiver, Nick Atkinson, a college student from Abington. Shaken, but uninjured, Atkinson picked up Brendan and ran as the second explosion rocked Boylston Street.

Memories of that day haunt the Brady family. Yet several will return Monday to the 118th Boston Marathon, including Diane Brady, an Abington resident who will run for House of Possibilities, an Easton-based care facility for children and adults living with developmental challenges.

This year Brendan will be at Mile 13, along with others from the nonprofit group. Their station marks the start of the toughest stretch of the marathon route, Brady said, and she is glad her son will be there rooting for her.

“Life is a struggle for him, but he doesn’t let you know it,” Brady said. “That’s going to give me the power I need.”

Brady’s niece and her niece’s husband will also attend the marathon this year, as will Brady’s husband, brother and sister. Last April 15, the number of her family members in attendance topped 20, ranging from Brady’s 82-year-old grandmother to a 2-month old infant.

Following the bombings, after what seemed like an interminable wait, Brady reached her nephew, a U.S. Marine, by phone. “He went into Marine mode,” she said, and told her everyone was OK.

The good news didn’t take hold until later, though, when Brady was picked up at Boston College by a friend and taken home to Abington, where friends and family had gathered.

“I just walked in the door and crumbled,” Brady said. “It was like crossing the finish line.”

Brady’s 15-year-old son, Shane, was indecisive about attending this year until Tuesday, when a bomb scare unfolded at the marathon finish line. Now he will stay home.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosions, Brady said Shane thought Copley Square had been targeted like New York City on Sept. 11, 2001, or that the city was under nuclear attack from North Korea. The militaristic country had been issuing near-daily threats against the United States and South Korea at the time.

“He didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “He thought the building was going to come down on him.”

Page 2 of 2 - Brady said she is also anxious about returning to the scene of the attacks, especially after Tuesday’s incident.

“I didn’t realize the emotions that I would feel,” she said. “I just sobbed the entire day.”